Observing that “employers should be cautioned that turning a blind eye to blatant discrimination does not generally fare well under anti-discrimination laws like Title VII,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently upheld a jury verdict and substantial money judgment against the City of Providence, Rhode Island based on a course of “vile” sex-based harassment and workplace retaliation the City allowed to persist.
The plaintiff in Franchina v. City of Providence, No. 16-2401 (1st Cir. Jan. 25, 2018), was a rescue lieutenant with the City’s fire department. After four successful years on the job, she was assigned to work with a male firefighter with “a history of sexually harassing female colleagues,” who in turn proceeded to engage in outrageous behavior towards her, subsequently joined by several of his colleagues.
Rejecting the City’s defenses to the plaintiff’s claims, the First Circuit characterized the case essentially as a textbook harassment case – albeit involving especially egregious behavior. Among other things, the court noted that the primary perpetrator was involved in another harassment case before the First Circuit several years earlier – which resulted in substantial legal liability against the City – and yet remained on the job, free to repeat his misconduct. As was the case with Franchina, the plaintiff in that case had to obtain psychiatric treatment and never returned to work as a firefighter.
A copy of the First Circuit’s opinion is available here.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.